CSR (Women's BBall Falls at Hope in MIAA opener)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 1, 2004
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen '08)

Women's Basketball

In an MIAA opener between rival schools, Hope defeated Calvin 60-50 before a
near capacity crowd at Hope's Dow Center Wednesday night. Since the 1965-66
season, Calvin has won 43 of a possible 71 meetings against the Flying Dutch
but Hope has won 10 of the last 11.

It also marks the second consecutive year that Calvin has opened its MIAA
campaign with a loss against Hope.

While Hope won the tip-off, neither team scored until Calvin sophomore Lisa
Winkle (South Christian) put one in for two with 17:36 on the clock. The teams
battled back and forth, but Hope pulled away with a 7-6 lead, and would hold
that lead until Rita Ouwinga's (NM McBain Christian) field goal tied it up
16-16 with 5:05 left on the clock. The Dutchmen gained the lead again off a
three-pointer by sophomore Sarah Jurik (Mesick) and ended the half up 23-18.
The stats for the first half were pretty even, with eight turnovers a piece, 24
rebounds for Hope and 22 for Calvin.
        
Though the Knights battled back hard in the second half, they would never get
within 2 points of the Dutchmen. Hope powered to a 40-34 lead with a made
field goal by junior Bria Ebels. Calvin called a timeout to regroup, but Hope
continued to stay ahead, extending the lead to 46-38 with 9:12 left in the
game. Calvin called another timeout, and managed to gain 3 points off one free
throw by senior Lesa Holleman (SW Minnesota Christian) and two by junior Sarah
Winkle (South Christian). But Hope kept pulling farther ahead, and would lead
54-41 with only 5:30 left.

Calvin had a quick comeback, holding Hope at 54, while scoring 6 points, off
two field goals by Sarah Winkle and one by Ouwinga. Hope soared to a 13 pt.
lead (60-47) with only 1:06 left to play. Calvin would add a field goal and
free throw in the final minute to cut the final margin to 10 points.
        
High scorers for Calvin were Lisa Winkle with 14 points, followed by Sarah
Winkle with 9, Ouwinga with 8, and Holleman and senior Lisa Nanninga (GR
Christian) with 7 a piece. Lisa Winkle also had a solid 7 rebounds, 3 assists,
and 2 blocks while extending her double-figure scoring streak to 11 games.
        
For Hope, Bria Ebels had 10 points, followed by sophomore Julie Henderson and
junior Linda Ebels with nine. Jurik contributed 8. Linda Ebels also had 15
rebounds.

Calvin Coach John Ross said about the game, "Our defense wasn't as good in the
second half, they penetrated to the basket on our guards, we gave up too many
points on defense. We also need to do a better job of running our offense and
setting screens." Looking toward the rest of the season, Coach Ross said, "We
need to keep working on our defensive system, on conditioning and fitness, and
we need to shoot more in practice. There is a lot of talent on this team, we
just need to be patient."

Calvin (2-2 overall, 0-1 MIAA) returns to action on Friday night when it faces
Wheaton at 7:00 p.m. (EST) in a first round game of the CCIW/MIAA Classic.
Friday's game will be played at Carthage College. Calvin will face host
Carthage on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (EST).

Both of Calvin's games this weekend will be aired via RealAudio through the
Calvin web at: www.Calvin.edu/sports with Josh Miller calling all of the
action.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Dec 1 23:45:21 2004